We were lucky to catch up with Jillian Adams recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jillian, appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
I think that there are as many different versions of success and happiness as there are people. I was happy in the job I had prior to going into photography full time. In fact, it was one of the happiest chapters of my life. Sometimes I wonder if I had done the “right thing” by leaving and pursuing my own business, but I never seem to be able to conclude what that “right thing” really is. I love what I do and working for myself rarely ever seems like a burden or chore. However, when you find a place that feels like home and you love who you work with, it can rarely ever feel like work as well. Could I see myself being happy as a full time business owner forever? Yes, but I could also see myself being happy back working in a mom and pop restaurant surrounded by amazing people.
I think the hardest part of being a business owner in my field is being lonely. There aren’t any coworkers to crack jokes with after long days when it’s just you.
Jillian, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started out in the industry as a 15 year old girl with a camera, and with family friends who needed wedding photography. Before I had ever dreamed of photographing people, I constantly took photos of animals and nature. At the age of 12, I had won first place in a nationwide photography competition on the subject of biodiversity hosted by a local museum. This secured me with my first Nikon and the reassurance that I was doing something right.
A few years down the line, I had photographed my first couple of weddings. At that time I was concerned with the need to go to college and get a real degree and a real job. My camera sat in it’s bag for a while I was writing essays and doing forensic anthropology case studies in college. I’d continue to photograph my friends and other small weddings on the side, and studied photography along with psychology when I had the chance to study abroad in Europe.
During my last semester, one of my coworkers at the restaurant I’d worked in put in her two week notice. I asked her why she was leaving and she told me that she got a job as a photographer. Immediately, I hammered her with questions. The position was as an associate photographer for a local company that wanted to help others go full time. After doing some research, the thought of working less and making more while being creative convinced me to take the chance. While rebuilding my portfolio for the position, I fell back in love with photography.
When I graduated with my bachelor’s in Forensic Anthropology with a focus in human rights issues from the University of West Florida, my then boyfriend and I moved to Tennessee from Florida. I transferred with the associate company to their second location, and my now husband transferred with his job. Sometimes in life things don’t work out in the exact way that it seems they will, and I eventually found myself building my own brand and photographing in a way that aligns with my own values.
Being full time without the safety net of associate work was daunting at first, but I knew that if I allowed myself to be seen and started connecting with people that work with the same heart, I would be more than capable. Now I am confident that the work that I do aligns with what I believe in- an experience that values connection, empathy, intuition and inclusion through timeless & artistic wedding imagery. My empathetic wedding photography documents the feelings and love of the day in a way that is authentic & true, candid & emotional, and effortlessly timeless.
My clients are couples that want the classic imagery, but without spending their wedding day with a photographer telling them exactly what to do and exactly how to pose. They crave the photographs that feel true to life and true to who they are. Photographs that are full of emotion of their loved ones that can’t be captured twice are more important to them than photographs of the expensive shoes or the Pinterest-perfect bridal portraits.
Currently I’m working on extending these ideas to my family portraiture. I picture family galleries to be full of black and white images, imperfect shots of children enjoying childhood, and parents letting their guard down to truly live in the moment and allow for that connection to take place. I don’t want to give too much away, but my vintage Kodak Duaflex will be start to have a more permanent residence alongside my go-to Contax film camera.
Eventually I want to shift my work to partner with communities that don’t usually have access to the luxury of family portraits. My goal is to be consistent enough in my wedding bookings that I’m able to work free of charge capturing memories for those whose memories are just as cherished as everyone else’s, but not often as documented. Within the next couple of years, I will be implementing the donation of a fixed percentage of all wedding bookings to be donated to select charities and foundations within the human rights field.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
When I graduated from my university and chose to leave my grad school application in it’s folder on my laptop, I also left a field that would have allowed me to play a small role in helping a lot of people that truly needed it. Specifically, I had planned on working in the Disasters, Displacement and Human Rights program through the University of Tennessee, and eventually aiding in the return of Native American remains through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. These issues are incredibly important to me and I feel a good bit of guilt knowing how much there is to be done, and that I didn’t pursue joining a program that could’ve allowed me to do my part. Photography had always been my passion and I told myself I’d give it my best for a year, and if it didn’t work out, I’d finally send my application and reference letters in. Seeing where I am now, I decided that my goal in my business would be to work hard enough to be able to contribute financially to human rights and forensic anthropology foundations with every wedding booked.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Being an introvert in a field full of creatives that love to show off their work and their personalities is hard. I don’t enjoy attention or being seen by others, but I’m learning that I need to put myself out there to attract those that I truly work best with and that have the same vision in mind when it comes to their photos.
That being said, I think it’s important to get out of the victim mindset that everyone on social media seems to like to be in. Things are hard and life isn’t always fair, but wallowing in it gets you nowhere. Feel the emotions you’re feeling, but don’t let yourself default to thinking the world is always out to get you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jillianadamsphotography.com
- Instagram: @JillianAdamsPhotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jillianadamsphotography